The Smells in My Kitchen

[Mich]

I'm seriously having deja vu. Haven't we had this argument before?

[ValentineNicole]

Roasted vegetables..

Cherry tomatoes, green beans, yellow beans, bell peppers, and snow peas, tossed in olive oil with fresh ground pepper, sea salt, thyme, rosemary, and herbes de province.

ETA:
And salad! Feta, diced cucumbers, diced tomatoes, green bell peppers, and a raspberry vinaigrette.

Now I just need a couple more lunches and I'll be set!

[Satya]

MEATLOAF.

'NUFF SAID.

[Rei]

Usually when I do roasted vegetables it's with potatoes, rutabaga, turnip, carrots, red onion, and garlic, and possibly with red, yellow, or orange bell peppers.

Roasted vegetables on the whole are a delicious idea either way

[ValentineNicole]

A Polish sausage and potatoes dish

[ender1]

The smell of my sourdough starter. It is the only thing that has made me gag before.

[Petra456]

I can't smell them yet, but later it's going to be homemade cinnamon rolls!

(the sourdough starter really does smell bad!)

[Young Val]

Homemade cinnamon rolls are the best!

[Petra456]

This will only be my second attempt at them ever, the first being back in middle school. I'm really hoping they turn out!

Cinnamon rolls are one of my all time favorites : )

[Graff^]

Mmmmmm....cinnamon rolls.....

[Young Val]

What recipe are you using, Fred? (If it's not top secret!)

Speaking of secret recipes, guys: what's your take on them? Do you have any recipes you refuse to share? If so, why?

I have just one. It's a Mixed Berry Pie recipe, and it's truly one of the only recipes I can honestly say that I created myself--crust, filling, the whole shebang. Most of my other signature recipes are ones I got elsewhere and then tweaked a little bit.

To be honest, no one has ever asked for my Mixed Berry Pie recipe (pie-making seems to intimidate a lot of people, for some reason) so I can't truly say what my reaction would be. I'm tempted to guard the secret! I am normally very free with all my other recipes, though. Spread the culinary love! The more delicious, homemade food in the world, the better, in my opnion!

If I DO decide to keep a recipe secret, however, I will NOT be giving people misdirections. David's aunt does that ALL THE TIME and it DRIVES ME CRAZY. David's favorite cookies are these chewy molassas cookies his aunt makes. When we were living in NY and he was never around to share any of hers, he asked for the recipe, which she readily gave. But she totally screwed with the ingredients! After making the recipe several times, I've concluded that she's given me a full list of ingredients in incorrect amounts. My experiments have brought me very, very close, but I just can't nail the taste of the original. It's so annoying! I wish she'd just said she would prefer not to share the recipe, rather than giving me a faked version!

[Eaquae Legit]

Chai... Mmmm, perfect for a rainy day.

[Petra456]

Actually, it's funny you asked because you're the reason i'm so addicted to the site. It's the Smitten Kitchen recipe. I can't remember if you've posted about the site on pweb or on facebook, but I am obsessed with reading over past recipes.

I'm sticking really close to her recipe, but i'm adding raisins into the filling. Cinnamon rolls + raisins = a very happy Fred.

[ValentineNicole]

Actually, it's funny you asked because you're the reason i'm so addicted to the site. It's the Smitten Kitchen recipe. I can't remember if you've posted about the site on pweb or on facebook, but I am obsessed with reading over past recipes.

I'm sticking really close to her recipe, but i'm adding raisins into the filling. Cinnamon rolls + raisins = a very happy Fred.

That's one of my favorite cooking bookmarks (along with Pioneer Woman). I've yet to make anything from either site that hasn't come out utterly delicious.

[Young Val]

Deb from Smitten Kitchen has NEVER steered me wrong! EVERYTHING she makes is fantastic. I cannot wait for her cookbook!

(Her cinnamon rolls are my go-to recipe! You won't be disappointed!)

[steph]

I love homemade cinnamon rolls! I use this recipe: http://favoritefamilymeals.blogspot.com ... rolls.html

I usually divide up the batch and freeze them, then any time I want them, I can defrost/rise them on the counter overnight, pop them in the oven and I have them fresh and warm! Love it!

Right now, my kitchen smells like pea soup. I needed something healthy and mild for my kids' sick tummies.

On the topic of secret recipes, I'd have to say that I'm strongly against them. I feel like food is something to share and show love. If something is that delicious, I want to share it with the world, so they can all taste the deliciousness, too! Why just keep it for myself?

For me, how I feel about recipes is the same as how I feel about books. If I love a book, I want everyone I know to read it, too. I feel flattered and special when someone requests a recipe from me and I more than happily share. Same as if someone asks for a book rec. In the age of the internet, if I don't give someone my recipe, they'll just find another one pretty much exactly the same online. I've found many of my mom's recipes from my childhood online when I didn't think anyone had ever heard of them before. (Mom was not home to give me the recipe when I needed it.) If someone refuses me a recipe, I respect that and then I just search online to find one. Besides, even with a recipe, no two people cook a dish exactly the same. There are just too many factors, including humidity, method of measuring, cooking personality, accessible ingredients, etc.

Hey, Kelly, I can I have your Mixed Berry Pie recipe?

[Eaquae Legit]

Speaking of secret recipes, guys: what's your take on them? Do you have any recipes you refuse to share? If so, why?

I have just one. It's a Mixed Berry Pie recipe, and it's truly one of the only recipes I can honestly say that I created myself--crust, filling, the whole shebang. Most of my other signature recipes are ones I got elsewhere and then tweaked a little bit.

To be honest, no one has ever asked for my Mixed Berry Pie recipe (pie-making seems to intimidate a lot of people, for some reason) so I can't truly say what my reaction would be. I'm tempted to guard the secret! I am normally very free with all my other recipes, though. Spread the culinary love! The more delicious, homemade food in the world, the better, in my opnion!

I am normally very free with my recipes. Spread the homemade delicious food propaganda at all opportunities! There are only a couple recipes I am loathe to share, but given the right circumstances, I can be persuaded (possibly for a recipe of equal secrecy, say, or as a special present). I don't really share my carrot cake, and some of my curries I don't share because they're not really mine. Other than that, it's basically a free for all.

I don't like recipe secrecy. I once had an amazing cream of cauliflower soup, and I've always wished I could recreate it, but the cook in question flat-out refused.

Having said all that, the recipe that is the hardest for me to share is my dahl, simply because I never measure and I almost never do it the same way twice. I've written down the "recipe" for three different people and every time it has been wildly different. Forget Indian cookbooks, I think there needs to be one just for lentils!

[Petra456]

Well, they're done and yummy! They took forever to double after I cut them (I let them set way past the 45 minutes that it suggests) and I think I cooked them a little too long (I am forever fighting cooking times with this oven!). Other then that, mmm!

I don't have any secret recipes. I've also never run across someone who hasn't happily shared a recipe (which is how it should be!).

[Rei]

I neither have any secret recipes nor approve of them, generally. There are certain exceptions, namely when one's livelihood rides on it, but generally I am quite opposed to keeping a recipe secret.

That said, there are certain things that I am always asked to make because nobody can do them quite as well. This is probably because I tend to be free/imprecise with my spices, so the food comes out stronger and varied in flavour.

On the whole I would rather share a good recipe with someone than keep it to myself.

[Luet]

Dinner tonight was three ears of local corn on the cob. And then a nectarine/ice smoothie. And then two apple cider donuts for dessert.

Not the healthiest but all local and in season and tasty!

[Wil]

three ears of local corn on the cob

That is going to be an interesting BM tomorrow.

Sounds like a yummy smoothie though.

[Petra456]

Right now we have homemade chili on the stove and homemade brownies in the oven.

Later it's going to be the smell of fresh baked sourdough bread (it's still rising!)

*drools*

[locke]

fresh coffee

made with: http://theotherblackstuff.ie/machines/a ... e-dripper/

I love this thing, it gets the flavor of full immersion (french press) combined with the ease of use of a dripper or single cup maker like an aero press. It doesn't dispense the coffee until the dripper is placed on the coffee cup. makes a fine cup of coffee, it almost is never over extracted (like french press) or underextracted (like a traditional dripper) and it's better than the melitta which has no control over when the coffee begins dispensing. the new versions of it are sold with a lid, which keeps the coffee hot. I have found it does not perform as well with medium roast beans, it needs more of a city roast to a light french roast to really perform well, so that means I need to keep my aero press which generally works best with medium roasted beans, but tends to over extraction of light french roast beans.

[Young Val]

I had such a delicious lunch today!

I made a sandwich on a small everything bagel (the manageable size is a plus, but otherwise, it's a bagel in name only; god, i miss New York!) with homemade hummus, cucumbers, roasted red peppers, alfalfa sprouts, and a slice of colby cheese, served with stove-popped popcorn, watermelon, and carrot sticks.

YUM!

[Eaquae Legit]

I had such a delicious lunch today!

I made a sandwich on a small everything bagel (the manageable size is a plus, but otherwise, it's a bagel in name only; god, i miss New York!) with homemade hummus, cucumbers, roasted red peppers, alfalfa sprouts, and a slice of colby cheese, served with stove-popped popcorn, watermelon, and carrot sticks.

YUM!

*drooooool*

Man, that puts my plans to have a fried egg for brunch to shame!

[Young Val]

It was seriously delicious!

I struggle a lot with lunches; David and I try to always pack a lunch from home both to save money and ensure that we're eating relatively healthy food (I could go on a whole other tangent about what I consider "healthy." I subscribe pretty closing to the whole Michael Pollan thing, so that's a rough idea).

It's easy when there are lots of left overs from dinner the night before, or something, but I can get into a rut pretty quickly when left to my own devices, which I hate. I'm really challenging myself to think outside the box and make lunches that are quick and delicious!

In this case, I made the hummus and popped the popcorn last night, and David and I prepped and divided all the vegetables and brought the whole shebang to work. I just went into the kitchen and threw together my sandwich, and all the rest of the ingredients will be waiting there for me tomorrow!

If anyone has any other suggestions for filling, easy lunches, please share!

If anyone has any good lunch

[locke]

A seriously delicious lunch, but not an easy one to prep and take, though I have made them before at work having taken the ingredients with me.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alto ... index.html

bagel wise, I never understood new yorker's complaints until I made bagels according to Peter Reinhardt's suggestion, which was a lot of work, involved making and feeding a berm before even getting to the dough and then to my shock boiling the bagels before baking them. I covered them in black sesame seeds and baked and oh my goodness so incredible. But since I've never been to new york I've never had boiled bagels outside of ones I've made myself.

[Young Val]

If it's not boiled, it's not a bagel.

I know I'm a snob about this sort of a thing, I get it. But New York does three things impeccably well: Cheesecake, Pizza (although, to be honest, I prefer Boston's pizza. Perhaps just because I grew up on it), and Bagels. (They do not, however, do good Chinese take-out. Dim-Sum, yes. Typical American Chinese take-out? No. What the hell are these "cream cheese wontons?" No. I want real crab rangoon, damnit).

All the other bagel-shaped things out there are just spongy rolls--not bagels. Bagels have a hard, shiny crust and a dense, chewy crumb. All those chains you can think of? They're not doing it right.

Go to New York. Get a bagel and schmear. Experience true joy. Thank you.


ETA: when I make bagels, I use Smitten Kitchen's adaptation of Peter Reinhart's recipe (I'll pretty much always use Deb's adaptations over original recipes. Her tips and tricks are priceless and almost always end in a better result with WAY less stress). DO NOT SKIP THE MALT SYRUP. Just saying.

[Luet]

I had no idea that there was a way to make bagels withOUT boiling them. That's what I get for growing up in NY.

[Young Val]

Oh MAN. I just cannot resist. Everytime something is posted in this thread I have to go and make it asap. Now I need to make bagels this weekend, so that next week I can have my lunches on bagels that are actually BAGELS! There goes my weekend!

[Rei]

I'll be honest, I've kept well away from the bagel wars.

I've heard people say Montreal bagels are the best in the world; that Jewish bagels are the best in the world; and that New York bagels are the best in the world.

Perhaps my palate is less refined, but I don't understand the fuss.

[Wil]

I made THIS tonight and OH MY GOD was it good. The meat sauce, especially, was so amazingly delicious.

[Syphon the Sun]

I made lasagna, tonight, too, Wil!

[locke]

If it's not boiled, it's not a bagel.

I know I'm a snob about this sort of a thing, I get it. But New York does three things impeccably well: Cheesecake, Pizza (although, to be honest, I prefer Boston's pizza. Perhaps just because I grew up on it), and Bagels. (They do not, however, do good Chinese take-out. Dim-Sum, yes. Typical American Chinese take-out? No. What the hell are these "cream cheese wontons?" No. I want real crab rangoon, damnit).

All the other bagel-shaped things out there are just spongy rolls--not bagels. Bagels have a hard, shiny crust and a dense, chewy crumb. All those chains you can think of? They're not doing it right.

Go to New York. Get a bagel and schmear. Experience true joy. Thank you.


ETA: when I make bagels, I use Smitten Kitchen's adaptation of Peter Reinhart's recipe (I'll pretty much always use Deb's adaptations over original recipes. Her tips and tricks are priceless and almost always end in a better result with WAY less stress). DO NOT SKIP THE MALT SYRUP. Just saying.

Malt syrup is a magical and wondrous thing that results in spectacular baking results. Would you believe that I found it in Missouri before I ever saw it show up out here in Los Angeles? But then, MO, is funny that way, sometimes.

Chinese takeout is horrible in los angeles. Actually most all chinese food and thai food is pretty lame. I'm from southern missouri, our one culinary claim to fame is the rather dubious Springfield Missouri Cashew Chicken (which coincidentally was invented by the family of one of my better friends in high school, a friend whose parents owned the best local Chinese restaurant). And as for takeout, it's just sooo sad here in los angeles, in MO, the takeout was better than the food served in the restaurant (virtually everyone does the buffet, sigh), an observation my friend confirmed with an "of course!" and an explanation that they made everything fresh for the takeout and delivery orders.

Dammit now I'm hungry for some grand fortuna cashew Chicken and wontons.

Oddly enough, much of the best thai I've had has been from Joplin's best thai restaurant, rather than LA ones, but then I've not made the effort to eat at LAs best thai places.

Never had dim sum, believe it or not.

Pizza, now that is a fighting subject. I grew up on Pizza Hut and LIttle Caesars and Dominos and Cicis. And my mom's homemade which was always better and different than the above. It wasn't for years that I realized that what made it so different was that the order went crust-sauce-toppings-cheese. Yes. Cheese On Top. Which is apparently how St. Louis Style pizza is made, though to be true st louis style pizza it needs to use Provel process cheese rather than (or in addition to) Mozzerella. So st louis style remains one of my favorite kinds of pizza. I was also exposed to the wonders of greek pizza on a trip to Pensacola, and Chicago pizza on a trip to illinois (but not chicago). I think I had new york style pizza first out here in los angeles. Lovely giant slices of pie covered in a thin smear of reddish sauce and topped with manky mozzerella cheese briefly reheated in an industrial oven and sold by the slice. That's New York. But the real gem of pizza for me, and my favorite kind, is california style pizza. I love the crazed toppings, that they're often cooked in a woodfired oven, and the general whole experience of it, crackling crush, exploding flavors combinations, overall general deliciousness everywhere. Venice has a place called Abbots pizza company that is just wonderful, it's reheated in an industrial oven ala new york pizza but with california toppings. The best California pie I've had is from Berkeley though, from a little shop that only makes one kind of pizza a day and the toppings are always bizarre but delicious.

[megxers]

The best California pie I've had is from Berkeley though, from a little shop that only makes one kind of pizza a day and the toppings are always bizarre but delicious.

I am going there Saturday! MMMM.

The food in Seattle and San Diego is pretty abysmal, at least compared to San Francisco.

Speaking of lentils, I wanted to get the right ones for dosas when I was right by an Indian market but then we were running late. Hopefully I'll be able to get some this weekend so I can make them!